Third Time's a Charm
by Erileen
Summary: One shot. Dean visits Sam three times while he's at Stanford, and two times he finds himself driving home wordless.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural in any way, shape, or form. The dialouge towards the end of the story if from the "Pilot" episode and does not belong to me.**

**Author's Note: A one shot about the three times Dean saw Sam at Stanford**

**Warnings: Some language**

.I.

The first time Dean sees Sam at Stanford, it's seven months since he left. Every day for those seven months he thought about his brother.

He feeds John some bullshit story about a poltergeist…somewhere…that he's going to go take care of. John mutters something about a spirit in Maine. They go their separate ways.

Dean drives like he's possessed; he drives without stopping. He's in a fog, trying to think of what he's going to say, and he gets a little excited when he thinks about telling Sam all of the things that he meant to say when his brother left for Stanford.

It's then that he notices his car starting to splutter, and he realizes his baby has no gas. He has to walk three miles to a service station.

When he finally gets there, it's morning. He parks his car and sits on the hood, drinking a cup of coffee, trying to put together his thoughts again. That was the problem last time, he thinks. He wasn't prepared to say all of the things he was supposed to say before Sam left. Now that he was prepared he could say those things and, if he was lucky, Sam would listen.

But he can't move himself from the hood of the car, until he sees Sam. His brother is walking across the campus, two books under his arm. He's coming closer and closer, and for one exciting second Dean thinks that Sam has seen him and he's coming over.

Suddenly, someone calls his name and Sam turns around. Two guys are coming towards him, and he goes over to them.

Dean crunches his coffee cup as small as he can get it and throws it near Sam before he gets in his car and drives.

.II.

The second time Dean sees Sam at Stanford, it's one year, ten months, and twenty-six days since his brother left, but who's counting?

They're already in California, and they've just finished dusting some guy's bones. John's nose is still steadily bleeding and Dean's arm is in a funny position and swollen, but he still is trying to convince his Dad to let him go, he needs to go.

"Where? Where the hell are you even considering going, besides a hospital?"

Dean starts to speak but is silent for a moment.

John sighs. "Just…let me take care of your arm first, alright?"

Dean sits silently while his Dad manipulates his arm and then wraps it up in an ace bandage. "Make sure that you ice it as much as you can, kiddo."

Dean nods and starts for the door to the motel room.

"Dean?" He turns.

"Tell Sammy I say hi."

Dean nods and closes the door and is on the road before he knows it. He hasn't iced his arm once but he doesn't care. He barely even notices how much it hurts. All he wants to do is see Sam again. Well, that first, then he wants to punch him and tell him that they need him. He wants to tell him that car rides are quieter and the days are lonelier without him. He wants to tell him all of the important things he meant to tell him before he left for college.

He also wants to tell him that Dad says hi.

By the time he gets there, it's noon. He realizes he has no idea where is brother is. He notices one of the guys he saw his brother with the last time he came. He gets out of the car and goes over to the guy. "Hey," he says, and the man turns. "Could you tell me where I could find Sam Winchester?"

The guys thinks for a second. "He's probably in his dorm. I can give you the building and the number." Dean nods and writes it down on his palm in pen, thanking the guy.

He starts to walk towards the building and he's steps away before his feet turn into cement. He can't move. The pain in his arm bursts afresh, and he grabs it.

He sees out of the corner of his eye that Sam is coming towards the door. Dean turns the opposite way and stuffs his hands in his pocket, trying to crouch down and out of sight so that his brother won't see him. He squeezes his eyes shut. _Maybe if I can't see him, he won't be able to see me._

Sam is coming out with another guy, when the guy says, "Whoa, look at that car."

Dean doesn't even have to turn to realize that the guy is pointing to the Impala. Sam takes a deep breath and says, "My brother has a car exactly like that."

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Dean. His car is _exactly _like that…"

Dean moves a little closer to the side of the building, and for a brief second he wishes he was a chameleon so that he could blend in with the brick.

Sam is still gazing at the car; transfixed.

The guy suddenly pulls on Sam's arm. "Dude, class is starting in, like, five minutes. We're going to be late."

"Yeah," Sam says, nodding. He and the guy hurry off in another direction.

Dean sighs in relief and as soon as he's sure Sam is gone, he sprints for his car and drives away, never looking back.

While Dean stops to fill up his baby with gas, he gazes at the address he still has written on his palm. It's half faded because of the sweat. He spits in his palm and rubs the rest of Sam's address off…

…but not before he scribbles down the numbers on the back of a Wendy's receipt and shoves it into the glove compartment.

Once Sam's class is over he comes out to look for the car, but to his dismay it's gone.

.III.

The third time Dean sees Sam at Stanford, he doesn't know how long it's been since Sam left, only that it's been too long. He does, however, know how long it's been since his Dad left – three weeks, two days.

And it's been a day since he got the voicemail.

He's halfway to Stanford when he turns around, telling himself this is stupid and Sam isn't going to come with him and he must be crazy. He's drives all the way back to the motel room and is three and a half steps from the door when something comes over him and he's back in the car, driving towards Stanford again. This time he only makes it a few blocks before he turns around, shaking his head, telling himself not to be stupid.

He opens the motel room door, closes it, locks it. He flops down on the bed and turns on the TV.

He's gone in five minutes, the TV still flickering.

This time he drives all the way to Stanford, but by the time he gets there it's late.

He reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out the Wendy's receipt with Sam's address on it, and hopes to God it's the same one, or this could wind up being very awkward. But hey, third time's a charm - right?

Before he knows it he's in the room…holy shit, he just broke into his brother's dorm. He's skulking around when suddenly someone attacks him from behind and he knows it's Sam. The long legs, the fighting style…some things may change, but other things _never _change.

Before he knows it he has Sam pinned, though he put up a hell of a fight. "Whoa, easy, tiger."

Sam is breathing hard when a light of recognition flickers into his eyes. "Dean?"

Dean laughs, and for a second he thinks he's seeing his brother start to smile but it's gone in an instant.

Sam is still breathing heavily. "You scared the crapout of me."

He can't help but smirk a little bit. "That's cause you're out of practice."

Achallenged lookfinds its way into Sam's eyes and before he can say anything more he's flipped and pinned and he can't help but laugh. "Or not." Had he still been practicing all of this time, or is that too much to hope? "Get off me."

"Dean, what the hell are you doing here?"

His breath catches for a second, and he wants to tell Sam why he's here. He wants to tell Sam that their Dad is gone and even though Sam might not care he's their _Dad, _and he needs help finding him. He wants to punch Sam and tell them that they need him around again, and that car rides are quieter and days are lonelier without him. He wants to tell him that John says hi. He wants to tell him all of the things, the important things that he meant to say before Sam left for college.

Instead he says, "Well, I was looking for a beer."

Whoever said, "third time's a charm" should go throw themselves off a friggen cliff.


End file.
